


Case Closed

by escsorrel



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Detective AU, Gen, Liam is his assistant, louis is a detective, they're gonna be just friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-08-31 08:31:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8571529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escsorrel/pseuds/escsorrel
Summary: “Oh, god.” The young man rolled his eyes and threw his wallet in the policeman’s hands. “This is my crime scene! I’m the detective!”“My apologies, we’ll see you through right away.”“You must be new here.”The police officer nodded. “I’m just an intern, sir.”“First crime scene?”“Yeah.”“Me, too. What’s your name?”“Liam Payne.”“Well, Liam,” Louis started, “Let’s get to the bottom of this, shall we?” he asked, slamming his fist on the steering wheel.





	1. Prologue

The loud sound of glass breaking startled Harry. He put down his hair dryer and peeked down the dark hallway, trying to see what was making the noise. He didn't recall putting anything fragile on the edge of the table recently, and he didn't have a cat which could be creating the ruckus. Maybe he left the window open and the wind knocked something over?

He looked in the mirror. Hair wet ,even dripping, skin - reddened by the rough fabric of his towel. Fresh from the shower, only in his underwear, he stood there.

Muttering. Barely audible, unintelligible, but a voice - or voices - nonetheless. Visitors? Without an invite? Already inside? Burglars? Or a bad prank by the neighborhood kids?

“Who’s there?” He called down the hallway. ”Love, is that you?” Maybe it was his girlfriend, although arriving without even a text didn'tt seem like her. Plus, they had a bad row recently, and they were giving each other space, so just barging in wouldn'tt be the smartest thing she could have done.

He stepped out of the bathroom and shivered. Cold water was running down his spine and pooling at his feet, goosebumps erupted on his skin, and silence became more eerie by the passing seconds. He reached out for the light switch, trying to make out a figure in the darkness.

Quick steps. A flash of white light right in his eyes, blinding the man. Quick steps. A sharp pain somewhere in his lower stomach. One strike. Another sharp pang. Another strike.

“Done.” A vaguely familiar voice grunted right by his ear. Harry fell to his knees. What-- ---

 

*******

Flashing red and blue lights mixed with the loud, high pitched noise coming from brightly coloured police cars & filled the once so quiet and peaceful town of Peltragow. It was a bit before midnight, the last rays of summer’s sun barely showing on the horizon, yet it seemed that half of the town was on this one-way street.

People of all ages, even the youngest, stood besides police cars, talking to each other and trying to guess what all the fuss was about. It wasn’t common for something like this to disturb the peace of the town - and, of course, everyone had to know.

They were all looking at an ordinary house. Red tile roof, brown walls, a balcony, a quickset of spruces. Nothing unsual. Yet.

Police officers were tryig their best to get rid of the crowd, though nothing did it quite like the aggrivated honking of a white Volvo. A young man was leaning out of the window and waving angrily.

“Get out of the way!” He shouted, abusing the sound signal of his car. A police officer walked up to him.

“Sir, this road is closed.”

“Yeah, and could you hurry up and get to opening it? Why the hell is the whole town already here?”

“This is a crime scene, sir. You should leave. “

“Oh, god.” The young man rolled his eyes and threw his wallet in the policeman’s hands. “This is my crime scene! I’m the detective!”

“Louis Tomlinson… Let me check with my superiors.”

Louis waved him off with a quick flick of his wrist. A few moments later the other man returned.

“My apologies, we’ll see you through right away.”

“You must be new here.” The police officer nodded. “I’m just an intern, sir.”

“First crime scene?”

“Yeah.”

“Me, too. What’s your name?”

“Liam Payne.”

“Well, Liam,” Louis started, “Let’s get to the bottom of this, shall we?” he asked, slamming his fist on the steering wheel. The loud honk made Liam cover his ears, but he swiftly proceeded to clearing out the crowd.


	2. One

“Let’s not waste any time.” Louis said to himself, ducking under the bordering tape, that was tied to two spruce trees, adjacent the walkway of the house. He greeted a few of the policemen before walking up to the oldest one who stood by the front door.

  
“Has anything been done already?” Louis proceeded to ask.  
“No, “ the officer answered, “We were waiting for you.”  
“Alright, officer Whycliff. What do we have so far? You seemed very eager to have me here.”  
“Your first case, and it seems like murder. This town hasn’t seen one in years.”  
“Oh!” Louis exhaled, straightening his back. Maybe it wasn’t the most positive character trait one could have - being excited by murder - but it was one he lived with.

  
“The woman living next door called after 22:00 about a suspected burglary. She had seen two people arriving, and later, leaving the house in a hurry.”  
“Maybe they were just short on time?”  
“Twenty minutes later we got a very stressed out call from another neighbor. She had went to check up on the man living here, and found a ransacked home and a dead body.”  
“Aha…” Louis drawled, taking out a small notepad and a pencil out of his jacket pocket.   
“Your orders, junior detective Tomlinson?” Whycliff said, a smile flashing underneath his white beard.  
Chewing on the end of his pencil, Louis thought for a moment and glanced at the street behind him.  
“Get rid of the crowd and send someone after the people, that called us. Interrogate the first one here, and the second… the second, I’ll probably go talk to her myself, but maybe we’ll need her in the police station.”   
Whycliff nodded and left.

  
Louis reached out for the doorknob, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. It was Liam.  
“Huh?”  
“Gloves, sir. You forgot to wear gloves.” He said, handing Louis a pair of white rubber gloves. Blood rushed to Louis’ cheeks - such a newbie mistake made him feel ashamed.  
“Yes, right, thank you.” He mumbled, taking the gloves and coughing awkwardly. “Please don’t tell anyone.” He murmured. Liam nodded slightly and turned away to await orders.

  
Louis’ hand lingered on the doorknob. Something else was missing. With a quiet sigh he turned on his heel and walked back to his car to crab his “investigation kit”- when your police office is so small you can’t afford your own crime scene investigation team, you gotta carry the cotton swabs yourself. The troubles of a small town detective involved doing double the work. What has to be done, has to be done.

  
Finally, Louis opened the front door and stepped inside the dark hallway. After a few moments of blindly stroking the wall in search of the light switch, he exhaled in triumph.   
“Let there be light!”

  
A few steps further in. A battlefield - that was the best way Louis could describe it. The nice, small living room was ransacked. Drawers - open, papers - thrown all around the floor, several candles had been toppled over and their wax had frozen over a pile of magazines. Shards of glass were laying at the detective’s feet - leftovers of a vase. A wallet was laying on the floor, almost torn apart.

  
Louis took out a camera from his briefcase and started the usual procedure, snapping pictures of everything, that could provide information.

  
Someone behind him coughed. Louis jumped up.

  
“Yes?” He asked, taking a cotton swab out of the briefcase.

  
“The body is in the hallway a bit further. The coroner is ready to take the body away, but you need to document it, too.” Said the voice of Archibald Whycliff. The old officer had an annoying habit of appearing behind people’s backs at the worst moments, Louis had noticed that years ago. Never did he think that one day he’d be the one startled on the job.

  
The police officer turned on the lights in the hall and Louis saw a bush of brown hair in the midst of a red sea. The victim was lying on their face in a pool of their own blood. The sides of the pool seemed smudged, and their left arm was covered in smudges of blood, as if it had been moved.

  
“It seems like he had tried to move around, but bled out before he could do anything.” Louis noted, kneeling down next to the body and taking samples. He carefully brushed away a few locks of wet hair to look at the pale face. The man’s eyes were closed.

  
“Alright, the coroner can get him. I’ll look around a bit more.”

  
He wrote down a few notes, watched the body be taken away, and continued on with his work. The cogs in his brain were turning slowly, reconstructing his version of what had happened. It all looked like a robbery gone terribly wrong.

  
“This won’t be much of a mystery.”  
“You think?” The officer asked.  
“Yeah. He had just stepped out of the shower and surprised the burglar, who then stabbed him and ran away. Simple as that. The mess - looking for money and valuables.”

  
“And what about those footprints?”   
“Footprints? Where?” Louis asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He had missed out on something important, again?  
“At the end of the hall. You ought to pay a bit more attention. I’ll leave you to it, and I’ll let this one slide, but watch it, Tomlinson - you won’t last in this job for long, if you rush it.”  
“Yes, sir.”

  
Archibald left and Louis huffed. This just wasn’t his evening, he was usually more attentive to his surroundings. Then again, it was a Friday evening, and he had allowed himself to have a drink, thinking, that absolutely nothing would happen… He was wrong. Wrong. Oh, so wrong.

  
“Indeed, footprints.” He muttered, looking at the smudged blood and mud on the floor. The footprints were peculiar, though. It took him a few moments to realize, that he was looking at prints left by high heels. He followed the prints past a staircase and out in the backyard.

  
A small backyard with a few flower beds and a crimson red sunset greeted him. And a few broken boards on the side of the fence formed a gap-toothed smile. And of course, the high heels left through the hole.

  
“Lady, what have you gotten yourself into?”

  
Louis walked around the house, not wanting to get mud all over the crime scene. He took off his gloves and put away his notepad and looked around. The crowd was gone, police sirens were quiet, only the lights still flashed.

  
“Officer Payne!” Louis called out, trying to spot the intern.  
“Yes, sir?”  
“What orders have you received?”  
“I just finished clearing the crowd and Officer Whycliff ordered me to find you. He says the first caller has been interrogated, and here,” he handed Louis a torn piece of paper, “is the address of the second caller.”  
“Great. You’ll come with me. Newbies have to keep together.”  
“Uh, sure.”


	3. Two

“So,” Louis began,” how long have you been an intern? No, wait, first- are you even from Peltragow? I’ve never seen you here before!”

Liam looked a tad surprised by the sudden flow of questions. He took a cigarette out of his pocket and offered it to Louis, who immediately agreed by taking a lighter out of his pocket. They stood on the sidewalk across the road from the house-crime scene.

“I’m actually from the next town over, but I moved to Peltragow. Always wanted to be a policeman, and you had vacancies, so… It’s been a month since I’m an official intern. I want to go off and be on the special Crime Investigation unit, but no, I do not intend to become your assistant.” 

Louis gasped and acted shocked, but quickly decided to laugh it off.  
“Aww, and I was hoping to fullfill the literary trope. Unlucky.” 

They both chuckled and took a drag from their smokes. Louis brushed ashes off his jeans, mumbling something about clean clothes.

“What about you, Tomlinson?”  
“Please, call me Louis.”  
“Okay then, Louis. Everyone seems to know you here, but I am certain Peltragow didn’t even have a detective until last week.”  
“Ah, I’ve pretty much grown up at the station. my father worked here, he retired last year and moved to Doncaster with the rest of the family.”  
“And you?”  
“My grandparents had an old house in the countryside, out of town, and since we didn’t manage to sell it, I was left to watch it over. Now it’s mine. Alright. Enough chit-chat, we still have people to interrogate, and it’s getting cold.” 

They both put out their cigarettes and began walking down the street, looking for the right address. After a few minutes, Liam pointed out,that they had been standing in front of it the whole time.

“You’re very…”  
“Aloof? I know. I’m not exactly sober, but don’t tell anyone. Can you keep that promise?”  
Liam’s eyebrows rised. A detective. Drinking. On the job.  
“Why should I?”  
“Pretty please with a cherry on top?”  
“Ugh, fine.” 

They walked up to the front door and knocked. There was no answer. Louis knocked again.  
“Hello? We are from the police. Is this the residence of Joan Compton?” 

Still, no answer. Now he wasn’t knocking, he was hitting his fist against the door.  
“Police! Open up!”

Liam grabbed Louis’ arm, to what the older man reacted with a puzzled look.  
“Don’t you think that’s a bit rude?” Liam asked. Louis shrugged indecisively.  
“Maybe? Didn’t anyone tell her that I’ll be arriving?”

“It’s fine.” A woman’s voice spoke behind them. They both turned around. She was short, fit, if anything - quite attractive. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she was wearing a track suit. A napkin’s end peeked out of her hands. “I don’t appreciate you trying to break down my door, but it’s my fault anyways. Should have stayed inside.”

“Er...You’re Joan Compton, right?” Louis asked, taking out his notepad.  
“Yes, that would be me. I was friends with Harry.” She sighed and sniffled.  
“We are sorry for your loss.” Liam said, to what she just nodded.

“Alright, I’m Louis Tomlinson, detective, and that’s Officer Liam Payne. We wanted to ask you a few questions and then we’ll leave you alone.”

“We should go inside, it’s getting cold. I could go for a cup of tea, or maybe something stronger after tonight.” Joan offered, walking past the two men and opening the door. 

“You ought to keep your doors locked.” Liam said, while Louis fidgeted with his pencil awkwardly, thinking about how embaressing would it be to break down an open door. Would not look good on his resume, not at all.

“I went out just for five minutes, but I guess you’re right. Turns out we aren’t safe even in this little town. Come in.”

They all walked inside. The layout of her house was the same as Harry’s - probably all the houses on this street were the same. “How boring.” Louis muttered.

“Huh?”

“Nothing, nothing, just thinking out loud.”

“Alright. Can I offer you any drinks? Coffee, tea? Something stronger?”

“I wouldn’t mind something-”  
“No, thank you. We, “ Liam interrupted Louis and nudged him with his elbow, “we both pass.”

“So, what did you see? How did you find the body? What made you leave your house at this hour? What-” Louis started asking, shooting questions out one after another.

“Okay, okay!” She exclaimed, before he could say another word. Sniffling, she began. "It was about half past nine, and I was watching a movie. I hadn't closed the curtains in the living room, and neither had Harry, so I could see everything that was happening in his." She got up and walked to the living room, pointing to the window. It was indeed true - the living room windows were situated directly across from each other.

“I could see shadows. I could see things flying around the place...It looked and felt just...wrong. Some time later I saw someone leave the house, and I was worried about Harry, so I went up to check on him, and then...then…” She began crying.

“A few more questions.” Louis asked, waiting for the woman to calm down. “How many people did you see leaving the house?” 

“One, just one. I assume it was a man, around Harry’s height and of a similiar build, but that’s all I can tell from the shadows.”

“And would you mind lifting your arms up?”

“Huh?” Both Joan and Liam looked at Louis, confused.  
“I guess…” 

Louis took out a cotton swab out of his pocket and reached out for the woman’s hands. he carefully inspected the sleeves of her black hoodie.

“There is a stain on here, let me just…There.” He muttered, taking a sample. He glanced down at her feet - running shoes. 

“That’s it for now. Please stay in town while the investigation continues, we might need your assistance. Stay safe, and here is my card, if you remember anything, just call.” Louis said as they were leaving. The door shut behind them and he took out the half-smoked cigarette out of his pocket.

“Okay, Louis, I know we’ve just met, but you better quit this drinking thing.”  
“Oh, just let me have my last night of fun. Did you see any high heels?”  
“Did I see any-What? What kind of question is that?”  
“One I need an answer to. So did you?”  
“No.Wasn’t looking for any in the first place…”  
“Neither did I...We are looking for someone in high heels.”  
“A man?”  
“I don’t think a 6 foot tall guy is gonna prance around killing people in high heels, but nowadays, what do we know.”


	4. Three

Morning. 8 a.m. on a Saturday.

 

A black coat was thrown on the chair in front of an oak desk. On the chair, a brown haired man sat. His gaze - pinned to some blank paper sheets tucked under his arm. the desk was covered in cardboard boxes, piles of paper, in other words - evidence.  
The man was tapping against the table with his pen. With every passing minute he got more and more frustrated.  
A loud sigh escaped Liam’s lips. He’d been sat in the chair for a hour now, awaiting his “boss” Louis. The first thing he found out this Saturday morning was the fact, that he was now officially the junior detective’s assistant. Exactly the opposite of what he wanted. But orders were orders, and Liam wasn’t one to go against his superiors without a solid reason.  
He leaned back in his chair and stared at the cieling. Truth be told, he did get a raise and was no longer an intern, and he could always use the extra money. Plus, experience that could help him become a full-blown detective and work on his own sooner. And Louis...They had just met, but Liam felt that Louis needed someone to keep tabs on him and help him not cross any wrong borders.  
His first impression of Tomlinson - impulsive, a bit reckless and happy-go-lucky. Not your classical detective, was he? Paired with Liam, who was law-obiding, serious and steadfast…  
“Break it or make it.” Liam said to himself.

 

Morning. 9 a.m. on a Saturday.

 

Liam was still sitting at his desk, and one might of thought, that the man hadn’t moved out of his spot at all, if not for the steaming cup of tea in front of him. He was getting more and more pissed off with Louis, who still hadn’t decided to show up to work. Liam would have gotten so much done already, alas, his hands were tied - he was only an assistant. Assistants take orders, not act on their own will. He began playing noughts and crosses with himself on a piece of paper, trying to pass the time.

Morning. 10 a.m. on a Saturday.

 

“Good morning to all!” A loud voice exclaimed and the door flew open. Louis walked in backwards, balancing a pile of paperwork on his hands,. He almost tumbled over when trying to shut the door with his foot.  
“You’re two hours late.” Liam said, coldly staring at him.  
“I know.”   
“How can you be so damn unprofessional? You should have been here hours ago, we need to find the victims parents, there is so much work to do-”   
“Liam, Liam, don’t get so worked up. We’ll be fine. There is so, so much paperwork to do, and you could have begun it already!”  
“But I’m your assistant! I can’t just-”  
“Assistant? Who told you that nonsense?”Louis asked, confused.  
“Officer Whycliff.”   
“Strange. I specifically remember saying the word ‘partner’, not assistant. But if you’re okay with that title…”   
“Partner?” Liam couldn’t hide the smile on his face. Partner. Not assistant. He was being taken seriously from the very beginning.  
“Would you rather be my pizza boy?”  
“No, no.”  
“Then, partner, would you mind taking these papers before I- WOAH!” Louis began saying, but yelled as soon as he took a step forward. Papers rained from the sky and Louis was laying on his mouth at Liam’s feet.   
“Are you okay?” Liam asked, reaching his hand out.  
“How unfortunate and clumsy of me. I’m fine, thank you.” answered Louis, getting up and grabbing Liam’s hand in a firm handshake. They picked up the papers and put them down on Louis’ desk, who sighed in defeat.   
“I’ll have to sort through all that again.”  
“I’ll help.”  
Louis smiled and shaked his head. “We’ve got more important matters on our hands.” He curled his right hand in a fist and streched it out towards Liam, who responded with a puzzled look.  
“Rocks, paper, scissors on who has to call the parents of the victim.”  
Liam tilted his head and gave Louis a death stare.   
“What?”  
“So. Incredibly. Unprofessional.”  
“So…” Loiuis drawled. “You’re gonna do it?”   
“Just get me the number.” 

 

“Well, his parents will come for the body, but they won’t be much help.” Liam said, putting his phone down on his desk and sighing. That was the most unpleasant part of his job - breaking the news.   
“How so?” Louis asked, his voice muffled by the pile of papers he was resting his head upon.  
“They say he ran away from home when he was about 19, and they hadn’t heard from him since. They said he had a girlfriend back then, but that’s the most I could get out of them.”   
“Hmm…How about you find out when he started living in the house we found him in? That could give us some pointers. At least how long he’s been in this town, if nothing else.”   
“And what will you do?”  
“Well, there is all this paperwork...and then I wanted to ask a few more questions to Compton. If she was Harry’s friend, she should know who he hanged out with, maybe there are more people that need to be notified. And then we gotta send all the samples to the lab, and visit the medical examineer...so don’t think I’m just making you haul all the paperwork.”  
“I wasn’t implying that, but okay.”  
“Let’s grab some coffee first.”  
“I don’t drink coffee.” Liam admitted. “To be fair, I don’t even know how to work a coffee machine.”  
“Oh, then maybe tea? My treat. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”  
“I’ll pass.”   
“Workaholic.” Louis said and left.

Liam shaked his head and pulled an evidence box closer to himself and began filing in paperwork. He sifted through the papers, that had been laying on the living room floor, until something caught his attention.

“Louis!” Liam exclaimed and ran to open the cabinet door. He leaned out in the hallway and furrowed his brows when he saw, that Louis was chatting with a female officer.   
“Get over here!”  
“What’s the fuss?”  
“I think our victim has a kid.” Liam said, turning the photo he was holding in his hand towards Louis.  
“Oh…” Louis muttered, examining it. Harry, looking a tad younger, his hair shorter and curled upwards, in a trenchcoat, craddling a baby in his arms. A smile was plastered across his face.  
“But I didn’t see any indications of a kid living with him.”   
“Did you ever go upstairs?”  
“No. I’ll add that to my to-do list.”  
“I think that should be a priority. What if we have a kidnapping on our hands?”  
“I don’t like your train of thought, but let’s go. Now.”


	5. Four

The car came to a full stop right in front of Harry’s house. Louis looked in his glove compartment for the front door key, while Liam loaded his gun.  
“What’s that for?”Louis furrowed his brows, watching Liam take out his gun from the holster on his chest. “We are looking for a child, not a guy with a knife. At least, not right now.”  
“You can never be too sure.”  
“I’m pretty sure we won’t need it. Put it away.”  
Liam’s hand lingered, but eventually he put it back.   
“You’re eager to get to action today.”  
“It’s because you were late. If there is a child involved, every minute is at stake.”  
“So I was late one time, you’re never gonna let me live it down now, will you?”  
Liam sighed. “Let’s stop this bickering.”   
They climbed out of the car, Louis threw Liam the key and stayed behind to lock his car while his partner hurried forward to unlock the front door, on his way looking for any signs of a child. There weren’t any toys on the front lawn and Liam didn’t recall seeing anything when he was there the previous day. He walked to the front door and attempted to unlock the door, but strangely…  
“Uh, detective Tomlinson-”  
“It’s Louis!”   
“Yeah, Louis. The key doesn’t fit.”  
“What?” Louis asked, standing next to Liam, his brows furrowed and his gaze locked onto the door handle, watching Liam try to stick the key in, even though it didn’t want to even go in partially.  
“I’m sure it’s the right one!”  
“Well, it doesn’t fit.” Liam stated again. Louis was visibly confused. With a hand movement he asked Liam to move aside, grabbed the door handle and tugged on it for a couple of times. No luck. The door stayed closed.  
“Maybe...maybe this isn’t the right key. Look around for a spare one!” Louis said, turning on his heel and leaned down to lift up the door mat. Nothing. Liam looked under the flower pots, shaking his head, as luck turned away from him, until all of a sudden Louis exclaimed ‘Aha!’ and tugged on Liam’s sleeve.  
He was pointing at an imprint in a sand patch underneath a decorative pine tree, that was planted right next to the front door. There was a rock, which had a generic key-shaped hole in it. Louis grabbed the door key from Liam’s hand and threw it into the hole - it fit right in.  
“Interesting. He has a rock for his spare keys. A rock. And I think someone else has the spare key.” He started, squatting down to pick up the key, “And since we can’t put this key into the lock, I think someone is inside. And the lock is jammed shut with the spare key.” Then, quickly he stood back up and ran around the corner of the house, Liam barely managing to keep up with his partner’s sudden movements.  
They ran to the back yard just to witness someone with long, blonde hair crawl through the hole in the fence while holding something in their hands. No amount of Liam’s yelling of ‘Stop! Police! Put your hands up!’ would slow them down. The person vanished out of sight before Liam could even fit himself through the broken planks of the wooden fence.  
“Dammit!” He muttered, walking back to Louis, who stood by the back door with an amused expression on his face. “We lost them!”  
“I know that. Did you notice anything?”  
“Not more than you, probably. Long, blonde hair, I’d assume they’re a female, running shoes, face covered with a black scarf, fit. ”   
“And papers. There were papers in her hands. Dammit indeed.”  
Louis sighed and walked into the house through the back door, which was wide open. The air in the hallway smelled like rusted iron. The blood on the floor hadn’t been cleaned up, it had stayed there overnight, drying out. On his left, by the back door and behind the bathroom, was a staircase leading up to the second floor. Louis instructed Liam to look around in the living room, while he searched the second floor.  
their search for a child immediately proved fruitless. There was nothing upstairs but a single bedroom with a double bed and a closet full of very strange shirts, at least that was Louis’s impression of them. There weren’t even any papers in the bedroom and nothing had been left in a rush. After a quick scan, Louis joined Liam downstairs.  
Liam had been luckier. The living room was once again, a mess, and there was a hole in the wall where just yesterday, a painting had been. A safe, wide open, and almost empty, if not counting a few pieces of paper. It was an official letter about putting up Harry’s child for adoption.   
“That settles that…” Louis muttered, folding the piece of paper and putting it in his jacket pocket. “Anything else?”  
“There was also this.” Liam said, lifting up a photograph of Harry with a short, pale blonde. On the backside of the photo there was a phone number and a name - Perrie.  
“She’s our next clue. Oh, and don’t forget to take the key from the door, we don’t want this happening again.”  
“Yes, Louis.”

 

They walked back to the car in silence, each thinking over their own thoughts and ideas. Liam was visibly upset - he couldn’t believe he let a criminal run away just like that. It would deffinitely look bad on his report. Thought of having to admit to such a crucial mistake on official papers made his head hurt. He’d be lucky if he didn’t get fired.  
Louis sat in the car and took out his mobile phone, dialing up the number on the back of the photo and turning on the speaker, so Liam could hear too. After a few beeps, a woman’s voice answered.   
“Hello?”  
“Would this be Perrie?” Louis inquired.  
“Yes, who would you be?” She asked in return, sounding a bit out of breath. There was a tinge of nervousness too.  
“My name is Louis Tomlinson. I’m the junior detective of Peltragow. We found a photo with your number in Harry Styles house. Who would you be to him?”  
“Oh, you’re from the police!”She said, her tone becoming relieved, yet hushed. “I’m his girlfriend, but could you please come over to my house? There is a bit of an emergency, I can’t really talk right now to anyone. It’s 5 St Ouen’s street.”   
She hung up the call. Louis and Liam shared a puzzled look with eachother.  
“St Ouen’s is on the other side of town, and I think we best hurry up.”


	6. Five

St Ouen's 5 was a small bungalow without any defining features. There weren't even any flowerbeds yet, which surprised Liam so much so, that he even made a remark about it. Louis just brushed him off and told him to stop stereotyping women. Not everyone wanted flowers in their front yard. Maybe Perrie was a businesswoman, who didn't have time for such things as gardening, had he thought about that? Liam hadn't.

They quickly got out of the car and strided towards the front door, which was wide open. Still, Liam knocked on it, furrowing his brows at Louis's ignorance towards simple ettiquete and politeness - the older man had just went right in, without any warning.

"Backyard. Gun." Louis barked, speeding up his steps. Liam took out his gun from the holster and followed Louis, who was quickly moving toward the back of the house, toward slightly muffeled yells of a woman and inaudible growling of a man.

There wasn't much of interest in the small backyard, except for a white picnic table and two people on it. To be precise, a woman, that was laying on her back on top of the table, and a tall man, who had pinned her down with his hands. The woman was calling out for help and squirming under his grip, while he laughed and tightened his grip on her forearms.

"Let me go!" She gritted through her teeth.

Liam was rising up his gun and opening his mouth to speak, but instead he just gawked at Louis, who ran up to the man, tapped him on the shoulder and punched him in the face, as soon as he had turned. There was almost a foot's difference between them, so it was certainly a sight.

"What the fuck?" The man roared, massaging his jaw. Louis had his fists up, ready to brawl. Liam finally pointed his gun at the man and called out 'Police! Hands up in the air!', while Perrie scrambled up to her feet.

The man ignored Liam and swung right back at Louis, sending the detective to the ground with one move, causing Perrie to yelp out and Liam to lunge forward, breaking the man's hands behind his back and handcuffing him.

Liam pinned the man down on the ground, struggling to hold the squirming body under control. Louis slowly got up, massaging his jaw and wiping off his split lip.

"You okay?" Liam asked, ignoring the swearing of the third man.

"I'll...be fine." Louis answered, spitting out blood on the ground and turning to Perrie, who had just gotten off the table and was staring at the trio, wide-eyed.

"You could have gotten yourself killed!" Said both Perrie and Liam, immediately sharing a surprised glance, while Louis sighed.

"You'll lecture me later. Now, would you be..."

"Yes, I'm Perrie Edwards." She said, brushing her blonde hair away from her eyes and patting it down, since it was a mess from the earlier struggle. She was shorter than Louis, around the same height as Joan-- in all paremeters, the were similiar, except for their eyes. Instead of piercing black abysess like Joan's, a soft blue was looking back at him. And she was pale. So very pale. Louis wondered, if that was even healthy.

"And...who's this poor excuse of a man?" He inquired, glancing and the man, who had finally stopped struggling underneath Liam.

"That's a very drunk Aaron Page."

"What does he want with you?"

Perrie hesitated. Louis walked toward her. She took a step back. Louis immediately stopped in his tracks.

"Sexual advances?"

Perrie nodded. Louis snarled and turned on his hell, his voice full of anger.

"Aaron Page, you're arrested for attempted rape. You have the right to remain silent. And all that yada-yada."

"Louis! You have to arrest him properly, or he'll be able to use it against us!"

"Then you do it!" Louis spat out. "I'd rather pummel him to bloody pulp right then and there!"

Liam sighed and left with Aaron.

Perrie handed Louis a handkerchief and the man pressed it to his lip, muttering a quiet thank you.

"So...what was it that you wanted from me?" Perrie asked after a while.

"Oh, right." Louis answered, putting down the handkerchief and pulling out his notepad.

"Who were you to Harry Styles?"

"His... his girlfriend."

"I apologize for what I am going to say now, but he was murdered. In his own home, last night."

Perrie gasped and put her hands in front of her mouth. Then, after a moment:

"I'll help with anything I can."

"Tell me about your relationship. How long have you been together? How was it? Did you have any plans with him? Anything interesting you know about him? Where did he work?"

Perrie let out a loud sigh and sat down at the picnic table. She stayed silent for a while, and then began.

"We've been together 6 months already. He was nice, but lately things were off. he worked as a librarian in the next town over, and he was about to lose his job,I never really understand why, and he was stressed out over it. He was looking for a new job, too. And, he wanted to move from his house. He seemed in a hurry about it. We got in a few arguments over nonsense, and yesterday I wanted to visit him and apologize, and maybe get a proper explanation out of him."

She stopped for a moment.

"But I was busy with my own things, so I didn't actually go anywhere. He was a mess lately and even I couldn't sort through it."

Louis nodded aqnd reached in his pocket to give her a card.

"Alright. If you remember anything of importance, anything at all, give me a call."

She nodded and took the card. Louis took the handkerchief and pressed it back to his lip, walking back through the house. There wasn't anything noteworthy, except for a folder of papers laying on the desk, all messed up and a pair of high heels, thrown in the corner. Louis pondered for a moment, but soon his thoughts were disheveled by the sight in front of him. Liam laying on the ground, seemingly unconscious, car doors wide open and Aaron Page nowhere to be seen.

"Uh, Perrie?" Louis called out while runing back in. "Do you have an ice pack?"

"Yeah..."

"Give it here, quick. Aaron Page ran away and my partner is laying on the ground."

"Oh no."

"By the way, who is that guy?"

"Harry's best friend."


	7. Six

“What?” Louis exclaimed, running back to Liam, who was slowly sitting up, leaning his back against the car. He threw the ice pack in Liam’s lap, causing his partner to hiss from the sudden cold.  
“His best friend!” Perrie repeated, hurrying after him, a first aid kit in her hands. She kneeled down next to Liam and started taking care of his bruised head, while Louis took out his notepad and pencil and wrote feverishly.  
“Do you know where this Aaron lives?” He asked, not looking up from his notes.  
“No, sorry.”  
“That’s,” Louis drawled, “alright, I guess.”  
“Do you know anything else about him? Anything that could help us?”  
Perrie’s gaze lingered on the napkin in her hand.  
“I know he and Harry… Well, lately they didn’t really get on well. I remember Harry complained about Aaron to me a few days ago. Harry just scored a new job, as a journalist for a big newspaper, the name of which I don’t recall, but, at least how I understood it, Aaron had wanted the same part. There had been an argument over it, and one night Harry came back home with a bruise on his face.”  
“Is Aaron always this agressive, or is the agression only an alchocolic thing?”  
“He’s pretty impulsive when he’s sober too.” Perrie answered, closing her eyes and biting her lip, as if recalling something unpleasant. “I think he’s got some temperament issues.”  
“And he’s got a mean right.” Liam groaned, taking the ice pack off his forehead and shaking his head, his face scrunching up in pain. “I think I need to lie down.”   
“You can come back inside,” Perrie offered, but Louis shaked his head.   
“We need to get this guy before he runs away too far.”  
“But your partner-”  
“No, miss Edwards, detective Tomlinson is right. As much as I’d like to sleep this off,” Liam started, slowly getting up from the ground and cleaning off his uniform, “we need to get going.” He handed her back the ice pack, but Perrie shaked her head and asked him to keep it.

Moments later they were back in the car, driving back to the station, Liam blankly staring at the roof of the car, his seat leaned all the way back, while Louis was speeding down the streets of Peltragow.  
“I think I know who our high heeled mystery is.” Louis said, and Liam slowly turned his head toward him.  
“Who?”  
“Miss Edwards. I saw a pair of high heels in her house.”  
“She’s a lady. That doesn’t immediately mean that she is the one.”  
“But did you see how she reacted- No, right, you didn’t see.” Louis stopped himself in the middle of the sentence, reaching out for the glove compartment and fishing a npaking out of it and pressing it to his lip.  
“I would have expected the victim’s girlfriend to at least be shocked about her boyfriend’s death, but all she did was gasp.”  
“Strong character, maybe?”  
“Or maybe she didn’t have a reason to cry. They did have a bad row recently, and maybe the relationship went sour a long time ago. Or maybe she did all the crying yesterday.”  
“So you are implying, that she did go to his house yesterday?”  
“Yeah. I’m not sure about her motives yet, but it could be.”  
Louis made a sharp turn, which made Liam yelp out in pain. Louis muttered an apology while Liam rubbed his head.  
“We are back at the station. I want you to stay here, look over the papers again and try to find out if our lab results are back yet. Look for anything that ties Harry to Perrie. Even checks for flower purchases, anything interesting you find could be our lead.”  
“And what are you going to do?” Liam asked, sitting up straight.  
“I’m taking a squad and arresting that prick for assaulting an officer. Should’ve asked Edwards to come with us and fill in a report so we could put him behind bars for attempted rape.”  
“Maybe he was just drunk out of his mind?”  
Louis was shocked.  
“Are you defending him?” He exclaimed, sharply turning towards Liam, who shook his head, immediately groaning out in pain.  
“No, no, I just meant to say that you shouldn’t be so brash and impulsive in your accusations! Think before you speak, or do! Assaulting an officer would get him up to 6 months as it is.”  
“Fine, but I’m still telling Edwards that filling a report is a thing she can do. “  
“You can do that, just...Just don’t overreact.”

An hour later Louis stood in front of an old house, that looked somewhat abandoned. The lawn hadn’t seen a mower in weeks, there wasn’t a fence around the property. It looked like nobody ever lived there and it stood empty, left to the hand of the elements and neighbouring brats who thought it was cool to spray paint walls.  
“I’ll try to get him to go calmly, but if something happens, then take him down immediately. He already split my lip once today. “ He told the officers, that were accompanying him. And then a bit quieter, to himself: “Heroes might boast about their scars, but I’ve got enough with a split lip for today.”  
He walked ahead and knocked on the front door. There was no answer. He knocked again. And again. Soon, he was banging the wooden door with his fist and palm, while the officers behind him watched him, confused and amused.  
The door flew open, almost hitting Louis and Aaron Page towered above Louis. His black hair was greasy and his brown eyes were glazed over. A half shaved beard adorned his jaw and there was a razor in his hand.   
“You.” He looked down at the detective, who had already taken a step backwards.  
“Aaron Page, you are arrested for-” Louis didn’t get to finish his sentence, as the razor flew towards his face. He barely managed to duck out of the blades way, his left cheek now having a long gash along it. The three officers had their guns out immediately and they soon had the man pinned down on the hood of the police car.  
“Fuck you, fuck all of you, and fuck Harry too. If not for him!” Aaron raged while one of the police officers read him his rights.   
“What did you say about Harry?” Louis inquired.  
“Fuck his bitch ass. He took my job, my women- no, that slut ran away with him-”  
“Language!” Louis interrupted him, recieving a spit in the face as an answer.  
“Get him back to the station, he needs to sober up first, then we’ll talk.”

Louis’s phone buzzed. It was a text from Liam.  
“Found H.’s life insurance. Registered a month ago. Big sum. All the money goes to Perrie in case of his death.”  
“Hm…”Louis drawled, getting back in his car and taking a napkin to press to his cheek.   
“Is it so…Hm.”


	8. Seven

“Let me out of here!” Aaron Page groaned, watching Louis from across the room. Aaron was behind bars, and Louis, as if taunting him, was sitting right across him, filling in his paperwork, with a slight smirk on his bruised face.   
“You know all of this is being recorded. Threats won’t make you look any better.”   
“Fuck you, just fucking fuck you.”  
“Can you shut up? For five minutes?” Louis exclaimed after another string of nonsensical, slurred threats. “You’re so annoying, you pitiful bastard.”  
“If someone is a pitiful bastard here, it’s Harry. That fucking...arse!” He kicked the chair in his cell, causing Louis to look up from his papers.   
“And what did he do to you?”  
“What did he do?”Aaron yelled, abruptly stopping and turning to Louis. “He took my fucking job. I was supposed to be the journalist for Daily News. I was supposed to go to the Middle East and report. Not him. I’m the better journalist, plus, he’s not suited for the work, he can’t come up with anything engaging to save his pathetic life!”  
“I was told you were his best friend.”  
“Emphasis on the were. Besides that, this bastard has been taking away women from me for years. I wish I would have never introduced him to J...now they had a kid, gave up that for adoption, and, here comes the best part, he took away my next girlfriend! He took away Perrie from me! I’m happy he’s dead!” He ranted, while Louis frantically wrote everything down in his notepad.  
“I’m gonna get out of here, and I’m gonna take back what’s mine, now that he’s out of the way. Love to give flowers to whoever stabbed him in the gut, ha ha!”   
“We…”Louis drawled, rising his eyebrows, “We didn’t release any details about the murder.”   
“Uh, well, Joane told me. She saw it.” The man mumbled. And then he became silent, picked up the chair and sat on it, his back towards Louis.  
“Is that so?” 

“Louis, there you are!” Liam said, tapping on the detectives shoulder.   
“Just finishing up papers. Found anything?”  
“Nothing besides what I already told you about.” Liam said, glancing at the third man. Aaron seemed to be dead asleep in the chair.  
“Let’s talk somewhere else.”  
“Shall we go? I have some interesting news for you too, and I’d really like a cup of coffee. By the way, are my cheeks bloody?”  
“Gosh, what happened to you?”  
“He threw a razor at me. Now he’s in jail with a half shaven beard, looking like a homeless man.”  
“And you have a split lip and a gash on your cheek. I don’t really think you’re in a much better place than him.”  
“I’m free, at least.”  
Talking, they walked back to their office, on the way stopping by the coffee machine for Louis to get his daily fix. Liam scrunched his nose at the scent of coffee beans, causing Louis to laugh.  
“Don’t like ‘em?”  
“Too bitter for me. Coco is better.”  
“But does coco wake you up?”  
“Decent amounts of sleep and not drinking gets me up.”   
“Would you stop bringing that up? Geez.”  
“I hope you will be on time tomorrow.”  
“Yeah, yeah, by the way, what’s the time now?”  
Liam pulled up his shirt sleeve.   
“Almost 6 in the afternoon. It’s been a busy day.”  
“We should wrap up soon, I bet you need to rest your head, still. I hope it won’t be too swollen in the morning. You’re gonna look like an unicorn, if it does.”   
“How old are you, again?”  
“Does it matter?”   
They entered their office, and Louis immediately sat down at his table, putting his feet on it. Liam shaked his head, but didn’t say anything about Louis’s actions.  
“So, report.”  
“Like I texted you, Harry Styles recently had his life insured, for quite the sum, and Perrie is marked as the only person, who can…”  
“Who can get the money, alright. That’s interesting. By the way, this Aaron…” Louis quickly retold Aaron’s words to Liam, and then the two men sat in silence, both thinking.  
“Got any theories?”  
“I’ve got one, but some things are still missing. For example, let’s say Aaron did it.”  
“He’s got a motive, and he’s definitely capable of attacking a man. He would also fit Joan’s vague description. But he’s got a big mouth, so he’s either terribly stupid, or he just wants everyone to think he’s capable of such things.”  
“I guess that I agree. I don’t particulary like theorizing before I have all the evidence.” Liam said after a while.  
“Speaking of evidence, did you ever get anything back from the labs?”  
“No.” Liam answered, looking slightly puzzled. “Wouldn’t it be a bit too soon?”   
“It’s the 21st century, things are supposed to happen quickly.”   
“Maybe they’ll be here tomorrow?”  
“Let’s hope. Alright, I think that’s enough for today, I’d like to go out and unwind a little.”  
“Go out on a Monday evening? Especially when you look like you’ve just gotten out of a bar fight? I doubt anyone will want you in the pub, even if they know you.”  
“You’ve got a point. But hey, these scars make me look dangerous. Dangerously attractive, even.” Louis laughed, winking at Liam, who cocked one of his eyebrows in response.  
“Please, be on time tomorrow. I don’t want Archibald ratting us out over it. You know how he is.”  
“Alright, mister Payne. I’ll be on time. Have a good night!”  
Liam sighed and left. Louis finished his coffee and went outside. Walking to his car, he was stopped by a peculiar scene.

Archibald Whycliff was sitting on a park bench with no one else than Joan Compton, and they seemed to be engaged in a heated argument, at least suggesting by the woman’s hand movements. Archibald spotted Louis and the argument abruptly stopped, both of them greeting the detective. Miss Compton quickly got up and excused herself, taking her handbag and leaving towards the nearest store. Louis was left alone with the old officer.  
“What was that about?” He inquired.  
“None of your business.” The man answered, still irratated.  
“Now, now, no need to be so sharp. You conducting your own investigation behind my back? Don’t trust me?”   
“It’s...It’s not like that. She wanted to leave town and we were arguing over the fact that she can’t do it without your permission.”  
“Then why’d she run off, if I was right here?”  
“I don’t know. Women. I don’t understand them.”  
Louis nodded, and turned away. Then he remembered something.  
“You once told me you have a niece. Maybe you could have us meet? Y’know…”   
Archibald glanced towards the dissapearing silhouette of Joan Compton.  
“She’s got a child and an ex-husband. Buzz off Tomlinson, you’re just like your father, always prancing around, looking for a girl-”  
“Alright, alright, I get it. Nevermind. See you tomorrow!”


	9. Eight

“Look who’s late today!” Louis said instead of greeting Liam, as his partner walked into the office.   
“I’m five minutes, not two hours late.” Liam answered, sounding tired and in need of proper rest.  
“Someone needs a cup of coffee in their life.”   
“Thanks, I’ll pass. What’s our plan for today?”  
Louis took a sip of his cup of coffee, while Liam opened the window in hopes of getting the scent of coffee out of the air. He wondered how many cups Louis had had already, because the room was filled with it’s godawful stench and Liam didn’t believe just one cup could do that. Did Louis even go home?  
“I haven’t come up with much, except...where did Harry work? The library?”  
“Yeah, I think so.” Liam answered, rubbing the back of his head. He was still a bit affected by yesterday’s trauma and it was showing.  
“Well, then we are headed there, as soon as Whycliff shows up. I had a few questions about routine paperwork for him, but he seems to be late, too. Which doesn’t look like him at all. He’s usually the first one to bark when you’ve missed like 30 seconds. i guess you’re lucky he’s not here now, that would have given you an additional headache.”  
Liam just nodded, not feeling up for a conversation with the talkative detective.  
They sat in silence, each filing their work and putting away evidence. Time from time Louis asked Liam questions about his life, his favorite musicians and so on, as if they were two students at university, sitting in the library and studying for the finals.  
A hour passed and Louis finally got up from his chair to get another cup of coffee, when suddenly, the door flung open, and an old, short, corpulent and bald man stormed in, his face red with anger.  
“No! She has nothing to do with it! Perrie Edwards has nothing to do with it!”  
“Excuse us? Who are you?”  
“Which one of you is the detective here? Anyways, it doesn’t matter. I will not stand by and listen, how Perrie is being denigrated and called a murderer. She had nothing to do with it!”  
“Who are you, sir?” Louis asked, furrowing his eyebrows.  
“Mister Jeremy Smith, her neighbour and her grandfather. My Perrie would never do a thing like this, she wouldn’t hurt a fly.” The man was visibly stressed, so Louis glanced at Liam, who nodded and got up.  
“Sir,” he started, “ nobody is saying that Perrie did this.”   
“They are!”  
“Those are just the rumor mills of this town, it’s always like that. We are going to find out who is responsible for this, and if you are right, then miss Edwards has nothing to worry about. Please, sir, go home and have a cup of tea.”

Louis listened to Liam calm the man down, until a pair of familiar faces entered the hallway, quarelling just like the previous day. Joan and Archibald.  
“Good morning Officer Whycliff! Good morning miss Compton!”Louis greeted them, stepping into their way and closing the door behind him. “What seems to be the problem?”  
“None of your business. Here, go release Aaron page.” Whycliff shot back, throwing a key at Louis, who caught it with a shocked facial expression.  
“What? Why?”  
“He’s been bailed out.”   
A triumphant smile appeared on Joan’s face as the two of them walked past the detective, who was standing there, his mind blank.  
“Hey wait! Why were you late?” Louis called out after them.  
“Bank.” Whycliff grunted and disappeared in the next room. Louis sighed and went to execute his orders. His main evidence source just slipped through his fingers. Just like that.

A hour later Louis and Liam were walking into the local library. The first thing they noticed was a small framed picture of Harry on the nearby desk with a candle next to it, and a poster that read “Looking for employees.”  
Silence seemed embedded in the building. Shining book covers reflected in the sun’s rays and an old woman was sitting by a massive wooden desk.  
“How may I help you?” She asked in a hushed tone.  
“I’m detective Louis Tomlinson and this is Officer Liam Payne. We are here to talk about Harry Styles. As we know, he worked here? Can you tell us since when and anything interesting about him at all?”  
“Oh, dear Harry, he was a charmer. He would read for the small kids every weekend… But that’s probably not what you’re looking for. He worked here for about 2 years, he and Joane applied together.”  
“Joan Compton works here too?”   
“Yes, she does. She’s currently on vacation, soo if you were looking for her…”  
“No, no, please continue about Harry.”  
“He seemed to be very interested in the children that came to us, he suggested different activities for them, was the head of children’s book club. Oh, poor soul, may he rest in peace.”  
“Do you know anyone, who would have wanted to harm him?”  
“Oh no!” The woman gasped. “I can’t imagine who’d ever do such a thing! He was such a sweetheart!”  
After ten more minutes of tales of Harry’s interactions with the library’s clients, Louis and Liam left. Louis was carrying a copy of a newspaper and Liam - a bunch of knitting magazines.  
“You’re actually interested in this?” Liam asked.  
“I send scans to my mother so she has something to do in her free time.”  
“Oh.”  
Louis abruptly stopped. His phone was ringing.   
“Louis Tomlinson speaking here!”  
“This is Joan Compton. I wanted to ask if it would be possible for me to leave town for a couple days. I want to visit my brother, his birthday is coming up soon, and it would be a shame if I’d miss it.”  
“If it’s no further than a hour’s ride, then yes, you can.”  
“Thank you. By the way, could you swing by my house this evening. Around nine? I have something to show you that can help the case, but I am very busy today, so I can’t do it any quicker.”  
“Uh, sure. I’ll be there.”  
“Thank you.”

Nine o’clock came faster than Louis could have bargained for. He stood in front of Joan Compton’s house, preparing to knock on her door. What could she have that was so important that it couldn’t be told over the phone? Documents? Something about Harry’s child?  
Louis never got to find out. A dull pain in the back of his head and everything went black.


	10. Nine

Louis's eyes slowly opened, and he blinked a few times. The first thing he felt was a numb pain in his head. He groaned out loud, while his other senses kicked in.  
"Where am I?" was the first thing his mind could process. He couldn't identify the chirping noises he was hearing, his mind was far too slow. He just lied there, trying to focus on his hearing.  
The chirping slowly cleared out, and he understood it was tweeting of robins. Somewhere near him was running water. He finally took a deep breath. The air felt much more fresh than it was in Peltragow. Sure, it was a small town, but it was quite polluted.  
He was still keeping his eyes shut, trying to get his mind back in one piece.   
Louis slowly moved his fingers. His senses were quite numb, but as he tried to move his legs, he realized that he was lying on something soft and dry.  
Finally he opened his eyes. The first thing he understood - the sky was green. The thought of the green sky felt much more important. A splash of green. Was the world ending and he died and had ended up in an emerald dream? Or was it toxic pollution? It took him a few minutes to understand that he was looking at trees. branches over him like large umbrellas.  
He spent a few more minutes just laying there. The pain in his head was getting worse, and his mind was really clouded. But the Tomlinson couldn't lay around in the middle of god knows where, could he?  
He slowly rolled over, and got up. The pain in his head was irritating. There was a maple tree in front of him, so he leaned against it, as soon as he was standing on his own two feet.  
"Ouch." Louis finally spoke. His hand raised up and he ran it through his hair. He quickly slid his other hand in his pocket, and sighed in relief as his fingers felt his phone and keys.  
Thankfully,his phone hadn’t died. It showed that it was already noon of the next day, 5 unanswered calls from Liam, and a bunch of angry text messages.  
“Hey…” he began, as soon as Liam picked up.  
“Louis! Where have you been? Did you get drunk yesterday?”  
“No, no. I was going to Joan’s and I got knocked out.”  
“What?”  
“I’m currently in a forest in God know’s where. Can you get the techy intern to find me by my GPS while there is still signal? And maybe get an ambulance too, my head is killing me.”  
“Joan called office and told us that you never showed up, Whycliff is mad as hell and-”  
“Tell him it isn’t my fault. I’ll await you here, whereever it is.”  
“Await a search party. Don’t go too far.”  
“Alright, alright, I’ll go find something to drink.”  
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to drink water from a forest creek when you can’t even boil it?”  
“No, but I want to, so…”  
“Idiot.”  
“I’ll be fine, just get me out of here. I am in dire need of a bath, too.”   
“Fine.”

Liam hanged up the call and Louis started walking toward the sound of running water. He could have appreciated the beauty of nature, but his headache was turning all the attention toward itself. After a while Louis stumbled upon a clear stream, just ankle deep, cold and fresh. He washed his face and his hair, sighing in relief as the pain seemed to numb and trickle away. Louis found a comfortable spot by a tree, sat down, leaned back and closed his eyes.  
What seemed like an eternity later, he was woken up by a dog barking and a yell of ’He’s here!’. A police search dog ran up to him and sat down, barking.  
“Hey buddy.”  
“There you are, Louis. Let’s get you out of here. You missed a lot.” Liam said, running up to him.  
“Slowly and in order.”  
“Aaron Page’s house burned down last night and the firefighters sa that there was a half burned body in the bath tub. The body had the same type of injuries that Harry had. We still don’t have our lab results, and I found out why - they were never received. Perrie filled in a report about Aaron’s advances toward her, and about five minutes later, when we found out about his house burning, Whycliff arrested her, using the report as basis for motive. He’s gone mad!”  
“That’s.. a lot to take in. Who does he think he is, that’s barely any evidence at all!”  
“I was thinking just the same thing. Let’s get you to the ambulance and then back to town.”

 

With a bandage on his head, a gash on his cheek and a split lip, Louis was complaining to Liam about how he wouldn’t be able to pick anyone up in a bar for weeks now. Liam just shaked his head, sighing at the immaturity of the detective. He really didn’t understand this man sometimes. First, he’s all wishy-washy, a clubber, and then he turns into a serious detective, yet he’s impulsive and tactless...There was a lot to the Tomlinson.  
“Anything else you haven’t told me, Liam?” Louis randomly asked, tearing Liam from his thoughts.  
“Uh, yes, actually. I found an earlier version of Harry’s life insurance, and it had Joan listed as the receiver.”  
“Hm.” was all Louis answered. Then he asked Liam for a cigarette. The rest of the way they sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.   
They arrived back at the station and Louis strided over to Whycliff’s office, slamming the door wide open.  
“What the hell are you doing?”  
Both men looked disheveled - Louis covered in mud and all bandaged up, Whycliff sweaty and distressed.  
“Learn some respect or I’ll chuck you out of her faster than you can say your last name!”  
“Why did you arrest Edwards? On what basis? You know very well that one report isn’t enough to make the claims that you’ve made!”  
“Why are you late? Where have you been looking like this?” They both shouted at the same time, Louis walking towards the desk and slamming his palm down on it.  
“I, for your information, was assaulted!” Louis said, causing Archibald to push his chair back in surprise. “And I immediately demand you release Perrie Edwards! You’re interfiering with my investigation! Someone in this station has been intercepting the evidence I send to the labs, and you’re Chief officer, this is your problem! Deal with it or I will immediately fill in a report and you will be investigated and thrown out!”  
“Just like your father, arrogant and stupid, that’s what you are. Who would intercept your evidence? nobody! Nobody gains anything out of it, it’s just stress and problems. You just lost it!”  
“Do. Your. Job. Or it won’t end well.”  
“Are you making threats?”  
“Yes, yes I am!” Louis concluded, walking back out and slamming the door shut.  
“That wasn’t a smart move.”  
“I don’t care. I’m going home, and tomorrow we are finishing this.”  
Liam shaked his head at the confidence in Louis’s voice. Solving a case in three days… either this was too easy for him, or he was about to make a crucial mistake.


End file.
